FBI announces indictments in college basketball bribery scheme

So much for a slow Tuesday! The DOJ today released information that the FBI has been (and continues) to investigate college coaches, managers, financial adviros and sneaker executives. They’ve also charged upwards of ten people thus far.

SB Nation has a good explainer on the college basketball bribery scandal here if you want all the details, but here’s why this matters as a Villanova fan.

It’s really no secret that this has been going on in the sport, but it’s incredibly interesting that this information is coming out now, just weeks before the season is set to begin.

The assistant coaches that have been named at Arizona, Auburn, Oklahoma State and USC are all still actively employed. So they’re in serious trouble and will need to appear in court. And it stands to reason that the head coaches and possibly other school administrators will be as well with the investigation ongoing.

In addition to the four schools above, it would appear that Louisville (already on probation) and Miami (Fla.). are involved as well, though neither has been officially confirmed yet. And with interviews ongoing and the investigation open, the scope of schools, coaches and people involved could increase.

If a few of those schools I just mentioned ring a bell, take a deep breath.

In the case of Arizona, the allegations for Book Richardson seem to point to Jahvon Quinerly pretty clearly. Keep in mind though, that it has not been confirmed.

Villanova had also been involved with Rawle Alkins and Brandon Randolph before they ended up in Tucson, but there’s no indication yet as to whether this goes further than Quinerly.

Miami is the other school that Villanova has been recruiting against in recent years. Miami hasn’t been officially named, but this reads an awful lot like Miami.

The player(s) who received $150K haven’t been named either. Some are speculating that this is Lonnie Walker, but that is just speculation at this point. You’ll notice the expected 2018 graduation date - that could be a current recruit or it could mean player is expected to leave school in 2018.

With indictments just coming down, expect more information to come out shortly and for the NCAA to react appropriately. If they’re to be believed, they are just learning about this today.

While I would expect Villanova to stay clean in this, we don’t have all the details and the ‘Cats were involved in the recruitments of several players caught up in this sting. We’ll have to wait for all the details to come out, but this is an insane story.

Stay tuned.